December 23, 2022
Client Acquitted of 15 Offences of Rape & Sexual Assault by Crown Court Jury
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Not Guilty Verdict Secured by Guy Gosheron in Assault by Beating Case
Hill Twine Solicitors represented PA who had been accused of assaulting a female at her home address. Amongst other things, our client was alleged to have shouted at the complainant and prodded her in the chest. Hill Twine Solicitors provided representation to PA during his interview at Ferndown Police Station and throughout the court proceedings at Poole Magistrates' Court. Following a trial, the magistrates found our client not guilty.
Introduction
Back in February 2021, our client, PA, was accused of an offence of ‘assault by beating’. He was accused by a female of going to her house with another male, angrily shouting at her in the car park, and prodding her in the chest hard enough to cause her to stagger backwards.
What is Assault by Beating?
Assault by beating is considered to be a violent offence but, contrary to how it sounds, to be convicted of such an assault there is no requirement for one person to ‘beat up’ another. The offence involves the use of unlawful force by one person on another. This essentially means that the prosecution have to prove that the defendant intentionally or recklessly used physical force against another person who did not consent to the force. Whilst this can include beating someone up, it can involve much less violent actions, such as, pushing somebody, pulling another person’s hair, or, as in this case, prodding another person. You may be surprised to know that you can be guilty of assault by beating if you spit at another person.
Assault by beating is an offence under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. It can be a defence if the use of force was in self-defence. Assault by beating offences are dealt with in the magistrates’ court (there are certain circumstances where the offence is dealt with by the Crown Court, but such cases are relatively rare) and the maximum sentence that can be imposed is six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
How Did the Case Get to Court?
Upon the matter being reported to Dorset Police, PA attended Ferndown Police Station on a voluntary basis for a police interview. He was represented by Hill Twine Solicitors right from the beginning. The police took almost 6 months to decide whether to prosecute our client but eventually PA received a court summons. At the first hearing at Poole Magistrates’ Court he was represented by Philomena Murphy. He pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the allegation of assault by beating. He denied using force against the complainant and making physical contact with her in anyway.
Our client was initially prosecuted alongside another male, who had been charged with other offences on different dates against a different person. The Crown Prosecution Service wanted all of the offences to be dealt with in one trial, i.e. the CPS wanted the two men to have a trial together. At a second hearing, Philomena Murphy argued that proceeding in this manner would be highly prejudicial for our client. She submitted that PA would not be able to have a fair trial in relation to the allegation of assault by beating because of risk of the trial court being heavily influenced by evidence it would hear in relation to the co-defendant. Philomena did an excellent job of arguing that PA’s right to a fair trial would be prejudiced if he was tried alongside the other man and successfully persuaded the District Judge that the client should have a separate trial.
Philomena did an excellent job of arguing that PA’s right to a fair trial would be prejudiced if he was tried alongside the other man and successfully persuaded the District Judge that the client should have a separate trial.
Our client’s case was adjourned for trial.
What Happened in the Trial?
PA was represented by Guy Gosheron at the trial hearing. During the course of the trial, Guy successfully opposed the CPS’s bad character application and effectively cross-examined the two prosecution witnesses. The court heard defence evidence from PA and another defence witness.
After hearing all of the evidence in a trial the magistrates dismissed the case against our client
To have secured PA’s conviction for assault by beating, the magistrates had to be sure that our client had committed the offence. The burden is on the prosecution to prove the case to the required standard, what you may have heard as ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. In this case, after hearing all of the evidence magistrates decided that they could not convict PA because the prosecution had not proved the case against him. The case against our client was, therefore, dismissed.
Why is the Outcome a Success for Hill Twine Solicitors?
The fact that our client was found not guilty of assault by beating is undoubtedly a very good outcome for him and a success for Hill Twine Solicitors. There were, however, other successful outcomes along the way which helped secure this acquittal. For example, there were tricky legal arguments won by Hill Twine Solicitors. Our advocates were able to successfully persuade the court that the way the CPS wanted to prosecute the case would result in unfairness to our client, both in relation to having a trial alongside another man and the use of additional material at the trial. Our advocates worked hard to prepare this case, producing skeleton arguments, taking statements from a defence witness, and helping the client to avoid other outcomes which would have resulted in onerous orders being made against him, such as a restraining order. The quality of our representation and the service provided to the client led to him achieving an outcome that he was very happy with.
If you have been accused of a criminal offence and want to know how Hill Twine Solicitors can help you, why not contact us.
If you have any questions or need advice